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A review by eesh25
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
2.0
Before I get into why this book didn't work for me, I wanna say that I think the narrator of the audiobook did a great job. And that, even though her voice started to grate after a while, it was because of Pippi's inability to shut her trap for more than half a second.
Now, let's get to it. Pippi Longstocking is a classic. Not only that, but it's also a part of a lot of people's childhood. Not mine, though, so don't feel too bad about not liking it. But I do feel a little bad because I wanted to like it. And because I'm sure a lot of subtext flew right over my head because I didn't pay enough attention while reading. Though I've heard finding subtext is just what people do when it comes to classics. Half the time when it's not even there.
Anyway, this is a story about a nine-year-old girl who lives alone. Both her parents are dead, but her father left behind a house. That's where she lives with her pet monkey and horse. Pippi is extraordinarily strong. But due to growing up at sea, she knows very little about social norms. So even as she's perfectly happy and making friends, she often scolded for her poor manners.
And that's the bit of subtext that I did get. Pippi is a child. And she's never learnt what the acceptable ways of behaving around others are. So she can be quite strange because she doesn't know any better. And all the adults—in the typical fashion of adults in a childrens' book—are content in scolding her rather than teaching her. Which, I'm assuming, is the author's way of showing us how society often treats children. We expect them to be born knowing how they should behave, and we put too many restrictions on them. Enough to sometimes kill their imagination. But here's what my issue is with how the book shows that.
Yes, Pippi is a very imaginative young girl. And she always means well. But her behaviour, to me, feels too manufactured. The author wants her to be peculiar, but she does so by making her behave in the most annoying way possible. You also can't compare her to an ordinary kid because not only is she extraordinarily strong, she's also filthy rich, has her own house, and seems perfectly capable of getting by on her own.
Also, the book just wasn't funny to me. There were times when it was sad because I felt bad for Pippi. But more often than not, I just wished Pippi would stop talking. Because oh my god, she talked so much! If someone even hinted at asking a question, she would just go on and on about what she thought, what she'd heard, and what the people of yet another country were like (that last one always made me cringe). And it got more and more annoying as the book went on.
I spend less than two hours on the audiobook and, by the end, I was so fucking done with Pippi Longstocking.
Now, let's get to it. Pippi Longstocking is a classic. Not only that, but it's also a part of a lot of people's childhood. Not mine, though, so don't feel too bad about not liking it. But I do feel a little bad because I wanted to like it. And because I'm sure a lot of subtext flew right over my head because I didn't pay enough attention while reading. Though I've heard finding subtext is just what people do when it comes to classics. Half the time when it's not even there.
Anyway, this is a story about a nine-year-old girl who lives alone. Both her parents are dead, but her father left behind a house. That's where she lives with her pet monkey and horse. Pippi is extraordinarily strong. But due to growing up at sea, she knows very little about social norms. So even as she's perfectly happy and making friends, she often scolded for her poor manners.
And that's the bit of subtext that I did get. Pippi is a child. And she's never learnt what the acceptable ways of behaving around others are. So she can be quite strange because she doesn't know any better. And all the adults—in the typical fashion of adults in a childrens' book—are content in scolding her rather than teaching her. Which, I'm assuming, is the author's way of showing us how society often treats children. We expect them to be born knowing how they should behave, and we put too many restrictions on them. Enough to sometimes kill their imagination. But here's what my issue is with how the book shows that.
Yes, Pippi is a very imaginative young girl. And she always means well. But her behaviour, to me, feels too manufactured. The author wants her to be peculiar, but she does so by making her behave in the most annoying way possible. You also can't compare her to an ordinary kid because not only is she extraordinarily strong, she's also filthy rich, has her own house, and seems perfectly capable of getting by on her own.
Also, the book just wasn't funny to me. There were times when it was sad because I felt bad for Pippi. But more often than not, I just wished Pippi would stop talking. Because oh my god, she talked so much! If someone even hinted at asking a question, she would just go on and on about what she thought, what she'd heard, and what the people of yet another country were like (that last one always made me cringe). And it got more and more annoying as the book went on.
I spend less than two hours on the audiobook and, by the end, I was so fucking done with Pippi Longstocking.